Seascapes Friday 21st April 2017

Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes , this week author and broadcaster Norman Freeman on being aboard the Wairangi during a crisis in Stockholm and an encounter with a salvage vessel from Rotterdam ; we preview a photographic exhibition this weekend in Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club featuring photos from the Tomás agus Kathleen Walsh Collection being held in association with Helvick Head Lifeboat Station ; we talk to Captain Sean Boyce ; Dick Bates , Leo Coy and Brian Cleere whom we met on our recent visit to Rosslare for John Power’s exhibition ......

......... we hear aboutthe first tropical Stingray to be born at the National SEA LIFE Centre in Bray, Co Wicklow and believed to be the first ever born in this country ...... Atlantic Cow Nose Rays are listed as a ‘near threatened’ species and could face extinction in the future

................first this week here on Seascapes we mark the anniversary of the loss of two steam ships the SS Lismore and SS Bandon with this contribution from John Crone from Cobh who remembers his grandfather and great uncle and their heroic part in the 1st World War a century ago........

first tropical Stingray to be born at the National SEA LIFE Centre and believed to be the first ever born in Ireland. Atlantic Cownose Rays are listed as a ‘near threatened’ species and could face extinction in the future. As the species matures very late in life, females only go through one gestation period a year, the new baby has led to great excitement internationally.

The newly born Stingray has yet to be named, but is a healthy size of 30cm long, and 680g in weight. Believed to be a female but it is still a little early to tell for definite according to SEALIFE Managing Director Pat Ó Súilleabháin.

SEA LIFE have orchestrated this breeding programme, taking in two pairs of male and female Cownose stingrays four years ago. Only one of the pairs has bred, but hopes are high that more will be born in the coming years.

Next here on Seascapes to Stockholm and an encounter with a salvage vessel, sailing aboard the Wairangi...writer , broadcaster and veteran Seascapes contributor Norman Freeman .....

The tale of the Wairangi from author and broadcaster and former radio officer Norman Freeman, Norman’s latest book is "The Lure of Far – Away Places" published by The Liffey Press and is widely available in discerning bookshops............the music was by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and The Hall of the Mountain King from "Peer Gynt"......

The Kilbrittain Historical Society is hosting a talk by seafarer and author Jerome Lordan on the Shipwrecks of the Courcey and Kilbrittain Coast on Monday April 24th at 8pm in the Community Hall. All are welcome and admission is free.
Jerome is a local historian and is the author of "No Flowers on a Sailor's Grave - the shipwrecks of Kinsale and Courmacsherry" published in 2014 ......That’s Kilbrittain Historical Society on Monday next at 8pm in the Community Hall with Jerome Lordan...

Last Friday night we heard from Kilmore Quay’s –John Power seafarer, author and photographer so to Leo Coy and Brian Cleere to whom we spoke at the Rosslare Maritime Heritage Centre...

From Leo Coy and Brian Cleere to master mariner Captain Sean Boyce whom we last met in Kilmore Quay some years ago ....

From Captain Sean Boyce to Dick Bates who was also in attendance at the launch in Rosslare of "The Maritime History of County Wexford through the photographic collection of John Power "

..............from Wexford to the Mediterranean and last weekend’s rescue by MigrantsOffshore Aid Station and other NGO ’s in the region of thousands Migrants at sea being exploited by people smugglers in perilous craft that depart from Libya, late last year we spoke to BBC Journalist and author of our book of the year "The Optician of Lampedusa" –Emma Jane Kirby about the plight of migrants at sea .......

The Optician of Lampedusa by Emma Jane Kirby is published by Allen Lane and was chosen by Seascapes listeners as our book of the year.............

" That’s about it for this week next week here on Seascapes – we hear from writer and broadcaster Hugh Oram on the Free French Navy in Greenock and a family connection ; Ron Coveney and Justin Maher are at Shore Shots festival this weekend in Strandhill in Sligo you can read more on the Seascapes webpage; and we hear from Jack O’Leary on the Maritime history of county Wexford following our recent visit to the sunny South East, all that and much more, until next Friday night, tight lines and fair sailing."

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About The Show

Seascapes, the RTÉ maritime programme with Fergal Keane. Seascapes brings you around our coasts and onto traditional and modern boats and yachts for a taste of the great outdoors. Whether you are a trawlerman or a yachtie, Seascapes will be of interest to you.

RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Broadcaster.RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Images courtesy of Inpho.ie and Getty Images.